Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Romans 15:7-13
New Living Translation (NLT)
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ
has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the
Jews[a] to show that God is true to the promises
he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so
that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his
mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant
when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing praises to your name.”[b]
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
    you Gentiles.”[c]
11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
    Praise him, all you people of the earth.”[d]
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne[e] will come,
    and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”[f]
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you
completely with joy and peace because you trust
in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope
through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Reflection:

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted
you, in order to bring praise to God"(V.7)
Paul's claim here begs the simple question, "How
has Christ accepted you?" That seems like a terribly
harmful question. I cannot claim to answer that
question for you, but let me offer an image to guide
our reflection.
At the church I attend, when infants are baptized, the
service ends with this tremendous moment when the
pastor raises the newly baptized child and proclaims:
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is
what we are!" I must confess that I often need the
emphatic "And that is what we are!" Because the
truth is this claim-that Christ has accepted me like
this tiny and fragile child-is nearly too much to bear.

Prayer: 

God, to Christ you have accepted us and made us
your children; help us to honor our baptism by
excepting one another AMEN

(The Covenant Home Alter, author-Andy Meyer)